Sophomore Alvaro Hernandez continued his impressive spring season of golf with his 54-hole total of 207 at the Western Illinois Beu Mussatto Invite, the best 54-hole hole total in the history of the men’s golf program.

Hernandez finished second in the final regular season tournament after he lost a sudden death playoff with Cardinal Stritchs’ Brian Murtagh. There has not been a men’s golfer to win a tournament since David Lawrence did it for the Panthers in 2011.

The playoff lasted three rounds after the two golfers tied in the first two rounds. Murtagh ended up prevailing in the final round to win the tournament.

“Obviously I could feel the pressure, but I knew that I had a great tournament no matter what the outcome of the playoff was. It felt really nice playing on it,” Hernandez said.

The tournament took place last Friday and Saturday with two rounds on Friday and the final round on Saturday. Hernandez shot a 67 in the first round, followed by a 72 in the afternoon round on the first day. Hernandez would shoot a 69 on Saturday morning before competing in a playoff with Murtagh for the tournament crown.

Beating the Eastern record for a three-round total means a lot to Hernandez.

“I know there has been a bunch of good players in the program, and for me having the record for lowest score means quite a lot,” Hernandez said. “I think it is pretty special.”

Hernandez was named Ohio Valley Conference Male Golfer of the Week on Wednesday after his 54-hole total of 207. This is the second straight season that he has won the OVC Male Golfer of the Week in the last tournament of the spring season.

Winning the honor for the second year in a row reflects the work Hernandez has put in of the season.

“I have put a lot of work in this year and it feels good to achieve it for the second straight year,” Hernandez said. “It feels good just before heading to conference.”

Eastern tied for sixth as a team at the WIU Beu Mussatto Invitational out of the 14 teams that were competing. They shot 909 as a team and a team best round of 295 in the opening round.

Hernandez and the men’s golf team will return to action on Monday for the OVC Tournament at The Robert Trent Jones golf trail on the Fighting Joe course in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

The tournament will go from April 24-26.

Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or mmshanahan@eiu.edu